Bag-filling apparatus.



Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN D. WEBBER, OF BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO AUTOMATIC WEIGI-IINGIVIACI-IINE COMPANY, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

BAG-FILLING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

Application filed January 10, 1913. Serial N 0. 741,174.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN D. WEBBER, a citizenof the United States, residing at Bayonne, in the county of Hudson andState of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements inBag-Filling Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more particularly to those parts of bag fillingapparatus which have to do with holding the bags in positlon to receivetheir intended contents, and provides a simple and easily operatedmechanism by means of which the open top of a bag may be clamped arounda filling spout so securely that the bag can be suspended from the spoutwhile being filled without danger of being detached therefrom by theweight of its contents.

The capacity to thus suspend a bag renders my improvements especiallyapplicable to bag-filling machines of that character in which thematerial delivered to the bag is automatically weighed therein, and oneof the features of my invention provides for controlling the operationof the weighing mechanism simultaneously with the clamping andunclamping of the bag by the operator.

My improvements are herein shown and described as combined with aWeighing apparatus of the character above referred to, of which onlysuch parts are illustrated in the accompanying drawings as will suflicefor an understanding of the invention.

In these drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating myimprovements, as preferably constructed; Fig. 2 is a sectional plan viewshowing the lower portion of a delivery spout hereinafter described; andFigs. 3, 4c and 5 are sectional perspective views illustrating threesuccessive steps in the operation of folding the neck of a bag aroundthe mouth of the delivery spout, prior to the operation of the means forclamping the bag upon the spout.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings 2 indicates a hopperlike delivery spoutsuspended by means of hangers 3 on one end of a scale beam which may beof any usual or suitable construction, but is herein assumed to be ofthat type in which the beam is bifurcated to provide two separated arms,such as the arms 4& in Fig. 1 which carry the hangers 3, whereby a broadand stable support is provided for the receptacle in which the materialisweighed. It will be understood that this scale beam has associatedwith it a suitable weighing weight and such other parts as may be founddesirable in the case of any glven apparatus, none of which parts areshown as they are not material to the present invention and may be ofany suitable construction.

At its lower portion the spoutEZ is'surrounded by an outwardly-extendinghorizontal flange 5 adapted to have the open top of a bag drawn up overit, and just above this flange 5 is located a flexible strap 6 whichpasses around the spout 2 and is secured at its ends to a pair of arms 7which may be moved toward or away from each other to tighten or relaxthe strap with respect to the spout which it incloses. In the particularexample illustrated these arms 7 are journaled in vertical bearings 8carried by the front side of the spout 2 and are each provlded with agear 9 meshing with a corresponding gear 10 secured to a horizontalshaft 11, which shaft also is journaled on the front side of the spout 2and is provided with an operating lever 12. The arrangement of the gears9 and 10 is such that the arms 7 move simultaneously in oppositedirections, and hence by moving the lever 12 in one direction the arms 7may be swung toward each other and caused to pull the strap 6 around theneck of a bag which has been drawn over the flange 5, while by movingsaid lever in the opposite direction said arms 7 may be separated andthus caused to relax the strap and release the bag. This relaxingmovement is continued until the strap has been separated from the spoutsufliciently to permit a bag to be applied thereto as hereinafterdescribed.

As it has been found that a bag which is clamped around a metal spout isliable to be pulled off the same by the weight of its contents, I preferto provide the bag-clamping parts with non-metallic gripping sur faces,as by making the strap 6 of leather, covering the top of the flange 5with a leather disk 13, and encircling the spout 2 above said disk witha soft rubber band 14. This insures an effective grip upon the bags, andthe compressibility of the rubber band 14 is also advantageous for thereason that it enables the clamping of a bag to be effected withcertainty by moving the lever 12 into a predetermined position, eventhough the thickness of the various bags employed may vary somewhat.

The flange 5 is intentionally made smaller transversely than the openmouths of the bags intended to be used with the apparatus in order thatthe lower end of the spout 2 may be quickly and easily inserted into thetop of a bag, and this requires that a portion of the bag be folded uponitself to make it fit closely around the flange 5, and the band 11 aboveit. To facilitate this folding of the bags I provide a horizontal finger15 secured at one end to the spout 2 above the band 1 1 and projectingoutward over the flange 5, the outer end of said finger being preferablyprovided with a notch 16. This finger is utilized in applying a bag tothe spout as illustrated in Figs. 8, 4 and 5, in which the bag is shownat 17, by first drawing the top of the bag upward past the flange 5(Fig. 3), then catching the upper edge of the bag in the notch 16 in thefinger 15 (Fig. at), and then drawing the slack in the top of the bagover thetop of said finger and folding it down upon the internallysupported portion of the bag (Fig. 5). After the bag has been thusapplied to the spout the lever 12 is drawn forward from the positionshown in Fig. 1 until the strap 6 is drawn tightly around the bag, whichis thus clamped against the compressible ring 14: and bent sharplyoutward and downward over the flange 5.

I have found that by the means above described a bag can be secured to aspout so firmly that there will be no danger or its being drawn off thespout by the weight of the material filled into the bag, and as it isdesirable to retain the parts in clamping position while a bag is beingfilled, said parts may be provided with a locking device such as isillustrated in Fig. 1, in which 18 represents an arm rigidly secured tothe shaft 11 and provided at its free end with a laterally-projeetingpin 19, and 20 represents a catch member pivotally mounted on the spout2 and adapted to ride over the pin 19 when the shaft 11 is turned todraw the strap 6 around a bag. The catch 20 is drawn toward the shaft11. by a spring 21, and the under surface of this catch is so shaped asto form a cam face which will resist the straprelaxing movement of thepin 19 and hold the parts in bag-clamping position unless the resistanceis overcome by force applied to the lever 12.

When the parts above described are embodied in an automatic weighing.machine it is desirable to provide a safe-guard against the supplying ofmaterial to the spout 2 until after a filled bag has been removed fromsaid spout and replaced by an empty bag, and to this end I have deviseda locking arrangement which operates automatically to hold the spout 2in its lowermost position until after the strap 6 has been tightenedaround the spout by a movement of the lever 12. Since it is the commonpractice to cause the supply valve to be opened by the rising of thereceptacle in which the material is weighed, the locking arrangementjust referred to serves the intended purpose of preventing prematuredelivery of the material into the spout 2. My locking device, aspreferably constructed, consists of a segment 22, shown as formedintegral with the lever 12, which extends upward from the shaft 11 insuch a position that after a bag has been filled the first portion ofthe unclamping movement of the lever 12 causes said segment 22 to passunder a roller 23 carried by the framework 24 of the apparatus. Saidsegment travels under the roller 23 during the continuance of theunclamping movement and said roller thus acts as a block to preventupward movement of the spout 2 after the bag has been releasedtherefrom. Conversely, after an empty bag has been folded around thespout 2 the segment 22 remains beneath the roller 23 until the bag hasbeen securely clamped to the spout, and at the end of the clampingmovement of the lever 12 said segment passes from under the roller andpermits the spout and bag to rise, whereupon the supply valve isautomatically opened and the bag-filling operation proceeds in the usualway.

The operation just described is facilitated by the fact that the band 14is made of compressible material and by the arrangement of the arms 7 inthe manner illustrated, since the last portion of the bag-clampingmovement of these arms has a relatively slight effect on the tighteningof the strap, as will be clear from Fig. 2, and hence there is enoughgive in these parts to permit the final unlocking movement of the lever12 after the bag has been securely clamped to the spout 2.

lVhile I have shown and described my invention as utilized in anautomatic weighing apparatus, it will be evident that my bag-clampingmechanism may be employed for securing a bag to any sort of spout,whether the bag is to be used as a weighing receptacle or not, and thatthe construction and arrangement of the several parts and features ofthe mechanism described may be modified in various ways withoutdeparting from my invention.

I claim:

1. A bag-filling apparatus comprising a spout, strap-supporting deviceslocated at one side of the spout, a clamping strap extending around thespout and carried by said supporting devices, said strap being otherwisefree, and means for operating the strap-supporting devices to tightenand relax the strap.

2. A bag filling apparatus comprising a spout provided with a fingerprojecting outward therefrom and adapted to have a fold in a bag formedover it, a clamping strap extending around the spout below said finger,and means for tightening and relaxing said strap.

3. A bag filling apparatus comprising a spout having anoutwardly-extending flange and a finger projecting outward from thespout above said flange and adapted to have a fold in a bag formed overit, a clamping strap extending around the spout above the flange andbelow the finger, and means for tightening and relaxing said strap.

4. A bag-filling apparatus comprising a spout having an outwardly-extending flange, a clamping strap extending around the spout above theflange, strap-supporting devices located at one side of the spout andmovable toward and away from each other, said strap being attachedthereto at its ends and being otherwise free, and means for operatingsaid strap-supporting devices to tighten and relax the strap.

5. A bag-filling apparatus comprising a spout, a compressible bandsurrounding the same, strap-supporting devices mounted on one side ofthe spout, a clamping strap extending around the spout and attached atits ends to said strap-supporting devices, said strap being otherwisefree, means for operating the latter to tighten and relax the strap, andmeans for maintaining the strapsupporting devices in a predeterminedposition corresponding to the tightened position of the strap.

6. A bag-filling apparatus comprising a spout, a pair of armsindependently mounted on one side of the spout and movable toward andaway from each other, a clamping strap extending around the spout andconnected at its ends to said arms, whereby the strap is supported in aposition adjacent to but out of contact with the spout, and means forsimultaneously moving said arms in opposite directions to tighten orrelax the strap.

7. A bag filling apparatus comprising a spout, a clamping strapextending around the same, means comprising a rotatable shaft fortightening and relaxing said strap, an arm carried by said shaft, and aspringactuated catch member provided with a cam face adapted to rideover the free end of said arm and resist the strap-relaxing movement ofthe same.

8. A bag filling apparatus comprising a spout, a pair ofhorizontally-movable arms, a clamping strap extending around the spoutand secured at its ends to said arms, a rotatable shaft connected tosaid arms by intermeshing gears arranged to impart thereto simultaneousmovements in opposite directions, and an operating lever connected tosaid shaft.

9. A bag filling apparatus comprising a spout having anoutwardly-extending flange, a compressible band surrounding the spoutabove the flange, a pair of horizontally movable arms, means to supportthem adjacent to, but out of contact with, the spout, a clamping strapextending around the spout opposite said band and connected at its endsto said arms, and means for simultaneously moving said arms in oppositedirections to tighten or relax the strap.

10. A bag filling apparatus comprising a vertically-movable spout, meansfor secur ing a bag to said spout, and means operative with thereleasing of the bag for locking said spout in a depressed position.

11. A bag filling apparatus comprising a vertically movable spout, meansincluding a shaft j ournaled on the spout for securing a bag thereto, afixed abutment, and a segment operated by said shaft and movable undersaid abutment when the spout is in a depressed position.

12. A bag filling apparatus comprising a vertically-movable spout andprovided with means including a shaft journaled on the spout forclamping a bag thereto, means for holding said shaft in bag-clampingposition, and means operated by the unclamping movement of the shaft forlocking the spout in a depressed position.

13. A bag filling apparatus comprising a vertically-movable spout, ashaft journaled on said spout and provided with an upwardly-extendingsegment and an operating lever, a pair of horizontally-movable armsmounted on the spout and connected to said shaft in such manner as to besimultaneously moved in opposite directions thereby, a clamping strapextending around the spout and secured at its ends to said arms, and afixed abutment located in position to obstruct upward movement of saidsegment when the spout is in a depressed position and the clamping strapis relaxed.

14:. A bag filling apparatus comprising a vertically-movable spout, acompressible band surrounding said spout, a clamping strap extendingaround the spout opposite said band, means for tightening and relaxingsaid strap, and means operative with the first portion of thestrap-relaxing movement for locking the spout in depressed position.

15. A bag filling apparatus comprising a vertically-movable spout andhaving an outwardly extending flange, a compressible band surroundingthe spout above said flange, a pair of horizontally-movable arms mountedon said spout, a clamping strap extending around the spout opposite saidband and connected at its ends to said arms, means comprising a shaftjournaled on the spout for simultaneously moving said arms in oppositedirections to tighten or relax the strap, means for holding said shaftin its Signed by me at Newark, N. J this seventh day of January, 1913.

JOHN D. WEBBER.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM BROWN, G- GO'UVERNEUR ASIIVELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

